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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612151">Only For A Second</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamalovesherbagels/pseuds/mamalovesherbagels'>mamalovesherbagels</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>and it's a shame she's not in my fics more, back to torture chimney some more bois!!, here she is ladies, karen is a gem, ooooh boy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:20:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamalovesherbagels/pseuds/mamalovesherbagels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Chimney isn't feeling well. It wouldn't be a big deal if he wasn't so stubborn about these things.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He’s sweating and feels cold at the same time, shivering under his uniform. He knows that this generally only means one of two things. Either the thermostat in the firehouse is as indecisive as he is, or he has a fever.</p><p>Probably the latter, considering no one else in the building seems uncomfortable.</p><p>A hand unexpectedly lands on his shoulder, and he jumps.</p><p>“Hey, you okay?”</p><p>“Oh yeah, yeah, fine. You just scared me.”</p><p>“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Hen asks, eyeing him warily, “you look a little pale.”</p><p>“Just you know… hot today. Summer in LA. And were just outside at the scene of a car wreck for half an hour.”</p><p>“Fair enough,” she nods, looking him up and down, “your hands are shaking. Dehydration. Let me get you some water.”</p><p>“Hen--”</p><p>“Water!” she shouts back, already on her way to go get him some. He would think it was sweet if his stomach wasn’t rolling in his abdomen. Also, you know, he can take care of himself.</p><p>He drinks “aaaaaaaall of it” as Hen demands, watches as she nods along in satisfaction.</p><p>“Better?” she asks, to which he wordlessly nods because he’s a little afraid to open his mouth. </p><p>“...You look even more pale now. Why don’t you sit down for a second?”</p><p>“I---” he cuts himself off, slapping a hand over his mouth and Hen, brilliant as she is, gets the message.</p><p>“Okay, okay,” she says, looking around quickly before determining that the best option is to just direct him toward the kitchen sink which is thankfully just a few steps away. She puts a hand on his back guides him over toward it, juuuuuuuuuust in time for the water she had instructed him to drink to come back up.</p><p>“If you had just <i>told</i> me you felt nauseous, I wouldn’t have made you drink so much water so quickly.”</p><p>“Shut up,” he groans, hugging his stomach.</p><p>“Hey guys- oh. Well, I was going to start on dinner, but maybe I should wait until Chimney finishes throwing up in our communal sink,” Bobby jokes, but his face is pinched with concern.</p><p>“Yeah, I found him pale and shaking, tried to get him to drink some water but as you can see, that didn’t go too well,” Hen says dryly, rubbing his back.</p><p>“Chim, buddy, how long have been feeling sick?” Bobby questions, knowing that not saying anything when he’s not feeling well is sort of his trademark.</p><p>“Few hours,” he sighs, leaning back against Hen and squeezing his eyes shut.</p><p>“He feels warm,” Hen sighs, “Bobby, stay with him a second while I go get the thermometer?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“Sorry, Cap,” he mumbles, not looking at him.</p><p>“You’re sick, Chimney, you can’t help that. Don’t apologize to me.”</p><p>“Still.”</p><p>“Stubborn, that’s what you are,” Bobby laughs, noting that the retching has subsided and motioning for him to sit, “you could have just told me when you started feeling ill.”</p><p>“Mmm,” he groans, setting his head down on the table.</p><p>“You’re gonna be fine, Chim. A day or two of being miserable but then you’ll be good as new, and I’m sure whatever sort of stomach bug you have will make its way around the station and the roles will be reversed soon enough.”</p><p>“Wanna go home,” he whines childishly, embarrassed and just wanting to be home alone to be sick and pathetic in peace.</p><p>“Soon, buddy. Let’s let Hen take your temperature first.”</p><p>“Open,” she commands, and reluctantly he lifts his head up from the table to do, glowering at her until the thermometer beeps.</p><p>“100.5,” she sighs, “not terrible at all, but definitely a fever. Are you gonna be okay to drive yourself home? It’s raining out…”</p><p>“Hen, that’s barely a temperature,” he argues, already trying to get up only to be pushed back down by Bobby.</p><p>“You’re not feeling well,” Bobby says measuredly, “we just want to make sure you’ll be safe. We could call Maddie to come--”</p><p>“Would you do that if it were Buck?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“If Buck or you, Hen, or Eddie had a barely there fever, I’m sure you’d let them drive home. But since I’ve already had a car acci--”</p><p>“Hey, that’s not fair,” Hen says with a flinch, and okay, maybe it <i>is</i> a little fair, but sue her for wanting to make sure her friend doesn’t get another rebar through his head.</p><p>“Chim,” Bobby says quietly, seemingly mulling it over in his head, “that wasn’t… that wasn’t what I was thinking of consciously, but maybe it’s in the back of mind. I can’t promise you that it isn’t. But regardless, you have a fever and you’re throwing up, so I think the best thing to do is call Maddie and see if she can come bring you home.”</p><p>“She’s working and I’m not sick enough to justify her leaving early. Really, I’ll be fine. You know how close I live to the station.”</p><p>“Karen’s working from home--”</p><p>“No. Not necessary. You guys are making a big deal out of nothing.”</p><p>“It’s not nothing--”</p><p>“Yes it is! I’m 43 and I’m a little sick, I’ll survive! Stop babying me. I’m not weak!”</p><p>“...No one said anything about you being weak, buddy,” Bobby says slowly, starting to think this is about more than just not wanting to be driven home by someone else, “is there something else you want to talk about? Anything that you need to get off your just?”</p><p>“This is about your dad,” Hen just states point blank, “Buck is hosting Albert this week because your dad is visiting and you don’t want to deal with him, understandably, but--”</p><p>“Shut up, just shut up!” he shouts, and there’s a tense silence throughout the station.</p><p>“Okay,” Hen says a moment later, blowing a puff of air out through her cheeks, “you’re not okay, and I shouldn’t push it while you’re not feeling well, I’m sorry. But I’m not letting you drive by home like this. I’m calling Karen, okay? Don’t fight me on it.”</p><p>“...Fine,” he whispers, ashamed of his outburst, ashamed of snapping at Hen, ashamed of <i>himself</i>, ashamed of everything.</p><p>“Is everything okay…?” Buck asks, having rushed up the stairs at the sound of Chimney yelling.</p><p>“Chimney’s sick, I’m sending him home,” Bobby says casually, “Karen’s going to come get him. Let’s just give him some peace and quiet until she gets here, okay?”</p><p>Buck seems confused, but he reads the room well enough to let it go for the time being. Bobby has Chimney lay down on the couch with a blanket he took from one of the bunks and places a trashcan right nearby, and God, he’s such a dad that it <i>hurts</i>.</p><p>“Hey,” Karen says cheerily, and if Hen warned her that he was a bit… difficult right now, she doesn’t show it, “sorry you’re not feeling well.”</p><p>“S’fine,” he mumbles.</p><p>“Do you need anything?” she asks kindly, and usually he loves how chipper she is, but right now he really just wants to not talk or be talked at, “because after I drop you off, I could stop by the store to get you some sick people things if you don’t have them at home.”</p><p>“I’ll be fine, but thank you, Karen,” he says as politely as he can force himself to be.</p><p>“Okay,” she shrugs, “just call me if you change your mind at any point.”</p><p>It goes quiet for a few minutes after that, Karen focused on the road and Chimney mindlessly staring out the window.</p><p>“Is it left at this upcoming intersection or the one after that?”</p><p>“One after.”</p><p>“Got it. You doing okay over there? I know you’re sick, but you also look kind of… depressed, no offense.”</p><p>“Rough day,” he shrugs, before adding, “kinda yelled at your wife. Sorry.”</p><p>“Yeah, she mentioned that. It’s fine, she’s more worried than anything else.”</p><p>“Mmmm.”</p><p>“I swear to God, you two are the same when it comes to not wanting to talk about your feelings. Must be why you two get along so well.”</p><p>“Karen,” he says with an eye roll, and albeit with the ghost of a laugh.</p><p>“What? It’s totally true--”</p><p>“Karen--”</p><p>“Come on, don’t be offended. I--”</p><p>“No, Karen!” he shouts, trying to point out the sloppy, dizzy driving of the car in the opposite lane, but it’s too late.</p><p>She only has time to scream before they crash.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I originally thought this was only going to be two parts... silly me! This is nowhere near complete yet.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing Chimney hears is screaming.</p><p>It sounds far away even though it’s right in his ear, and he briefly wonders if he hasn’t woken up fully and is having some sort of nightmare.</p><p>Then comes the pain and then, oh fuck- realization. He moves his neck side to side to make sure he still can, and that’s when he observes where the screaming is coming from. Karen. At least she’s conscious.</p><p>“Where are you hurt?” he asks, voice coming out slow and garbled. He’s trying to determine that by looking her over, but he’s a little dizzy.</p><p>“You’re awake! Oh my… Chimney, you’re not dead. You’re not dead!”</p><p>“No, not yet at least,” he murmurs, squeezing his eyes shut and hissing at the pain, “think ribs are shattered on both sides of my abdomen. Excellent.”</p><p>“How are you doing that?”</p><p>“Doing what?”</p><p>“Being a paramedic in your own emergency!” she shouts, looking at him in bewilderment.</p><p>“Habit, I think. God, I don’t feel too good. Must be a head injury.”</p><p>“You were sick to begin with, so it’s probably that. Hopefully, it’s just that. You’re sick, remember? Please tell me you remember, because if you have amnesia I don't know what I’m going to tell Maddie.”</p><p>“Oh God, Maddie… M-Maddie. We should call 9-1-1, probably. Can you reach your phone? Don’t know where mine ended up.”</p><p>“Umm, it’s right here,” she says breathlessly, “but, uh, can you grab it? Don’t think I can reach over that far with my opposite arm and this one is kind of, it’s kind of pointing the wrong way.”</p><p>“Oh, dear God, yes it is,” he replies, noting that her elbow is dislocated and her forearm is likely broken. He’s used to seeing bones and joints that are… out of order. It’s a job. But given it being his actual friend, his own emergency, and the stomach bug he has to repress a gag.</p><p>“You can puke in a few minutes. RIght now you need to grab my phone and call 9-1-1. Can you do that?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he mumbles, cautiously moving his left arm to do so and being semi-relieved when the rush of increased pain is only in his ribs and not the arm, so at least that isn’t broken.</p><p> </p><p>.</p><p>The dispatcher who ends up taking the call is fairly new to the center, not knowing Maddie well enough for the names “Howard Han” and “Karen Wilson” to mean anything. He had heard that she was dating a firefighter, but “the 118” doesn’t ring a bell when he’s asked to dispatch them specifically. </p><p>Josh, however, is sitting next to the newbie, and hears him putting in the request for the 118 to be dispatched because of a “Chimney,” and takes the earset away from the new guy and waves Maddie over immediately.</p><p>“What’s going on?” she asks, a pit in her stomach forming over the blatant fear on Josh’s face. He’s been at the call center long enough to not be easily phased.</p><p>“Chimney, she’s here?”</p><p>“Chimney… what? Chim, honey, why are you on the line with 9-1-1?” </p><p>“I’m hurt, so’s Karen,” he pants, trying to keep the pain from seeping into his voice for her voice, “don’t think either of us has anything life threatening, though.”</p><p>“What happened?” she demands, the likely scenario catching up to her panic jumbled mind a moment later. She knows they were in a car together; Buck had texted her to let her know Chimney was sick and Karen was taking him home. Why Chimney didn’t just call her is beyond her, but that’s a problem for another time.</p><p>“Crash,” says as clearly as he can, “the driver in the other lane swerved into us. Think they were probably drunk. Karen and I are kinda pinned, I think? Can’t go check on them and see how they’re doing.”</p><p>“I don’t care about them right now,” she says flatly, tears flowing freely from her eyes, “where are you hurt, sweet pea? Where is Karen hurt?”</p><p>“Umm,” he gasps, having shifted the wrong way, “I think we both have broken ribs. Her arm is… one of her arms is pretty messed up. One of mine, too, I think? I don’t have too much space to move around to assess our injuries and even if I did, everytime I move I feel like I’m going to throw up. Don’t know if it’s a potential concussion or from me being sick to start with or both.”</p><p>“Okay,” she sniffles, wiping at her eyes, which is pretty much futile, “I need you to try and move your legs. Tell Karen to try, too. I need to let the team know if either of you have potential spinal injuries.”</p><p>“We’re both good on that front. I already checked.”</p><p>“Course you did. My genius paramedic boyfriend.”</p><p>“Not a genius,” he says with a pained chuckle.</p><p>“You are, you are. I’m so sorry this happened, Chim, and I’m so sorry that you’re sick and that you and Karen are in pain and I-I… you’re gonna be okay, and I’m gonna be at the hospital as soon as I can, okay?”</p><p>“I hear the sirens,” Chimney sighs with relief, “gotta go now, Maddie. I love you.”</p><p>“I love you two, but don’t you dare--”</p><p>Of course, he hangs up the phone anyway. He knows getting the two of them out of the car and moved onto gurneys is going to be immensely painful, and he doesn’t want his pregnant girlfriend listening in on that. And you know, she’ll forgive him eventually.</p><p>It’s hard to see Hen, usually so urgent in her work but collected in control, crying and frantic as she assesses her wife. Karen is putting on the bravest face she can, but it doesn’t subtract from any of the abject horror of the situation.</p><p>“How’s the other driver?” Chimney asks, letting Buck half-hug him as best as he can through the shattered car window, even though he’s pretty sure it’s not protocol.</p><p>“Alive. Eddie says he thinks they weren’t drunk and actually just had a seizure behind the wheel, if that makes you feel any better.”</p><p>“Maybe a little,” he nods weakly, “bad luck is better than negligence.”</p><p>“You’re lucky, you know. Looking at both their car and Karen’s? It could’ve been a lot worse.”</p><p>“I’ve had a rebar through my head, I’ve been stabbed, and now this. Not feeling particularly lucky at the moment, Buck.”</p><p>“You’re not dead or paralyzed?” he offers, laughing in a hysterical, incredulous sort of way, as if he’s in shock that his friend isn’t dying.</p><p>“S’true,” Chimney says with a heavy exhale, which sends a jolt of pain through his ribs, “ow, oh my… get me out of here quick so I can have pain meds?”</p><p>“Doing our best,” Bobby nods, tapping on the car door, “how you feeling, buddy?”</p><p>“Uh, bad? Really bad, Cap. I’m uh… it’s taking a lot of effort not to throw up all over Karen’s car. I know I can’t put it off forever, but umm, a shit ton of my ribs are broken. It’s going to hurt.”</p><p>“I can only imagine,” Bobby frowns sympathetically, “you’re having a really rough day, aren’t you? And that’s a massive understatement.”</p><p>“Eh, probably not my worst. But yeah, definitely not my best, either.”</p><p>“My sister is probably having a coronary as we speak,” Buck mumbles.</p><p>“I know you’re just joking, but don’t even put that out into the universe.”</p><p>“Fair enough.”</p><p>“Chimney?” Hen asks, poking her head in the car as they’ve managed to pry the door open on Karen’s side and get her out of there, “are you hanging in there?”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, worry about your wife, not me. I’ll be alright.”</p><p>“I can worry about both my wife and my best friend at the same time,” she says tearfully, “we’ll have you out of there in no time, okay? Get you nice and cozy and on morphine in a hospital bed, and hopefully the nurses will take pity on you and give you some anti nausea meds for your stomach bug.”</p><p>“I can dream,” he murmurs, shutting his eyes to try to fight off the latest wave of queasiness.</p><p>“You’re okay, buddy,” Bobby says calmly, reaching through the window to ruffle his hair, “you’re going to be alright, we’ve got you.”</p><p>“Mmm. Want Maddie.”</p><p>“Soon,” Bobby nods, glancing over and seeing that Buck and Eddie are going to be able to easily handle getting him out on his own.</p><p>Much like Buck earlier, it’s not protocol when he slips into the mangled car through the driver’s side door to lightly hug Chimney, especially considering that he’s the captain, but he couldn’t care less about protocol at the moment.</p><p>“I got you,” he hums, stroking Chimney’s hair as if he were a little kid and he was his dad, “I know you’re hurting and not feeling well, but it’s all going to be okay. I’ve got you, Chim.”</p><p>“Love you, Bobby,” he murmurs, leaning into him as much as he can without aggravating his side injuries too much.</p><p>“Love you more, buddy.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>no one look at me i have no idea how many chapters this "short" story is going to end up being</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Chim, you hanging in there okay?”</p><p>Hen doesn’t look away from Karen’s face while asking, but he can hear the concern in her voice. He gets it, really. If Maddie were hurt he wouldn’t be able to look away from her, either.</p><p>“Yeah, m’fine. Just a little carsick.”</p><p>“We’re almost to the hospital,” Buck says encouragingly, squeezing his non-broken shoulder, “I’m sorry the speeding ambulance ride is probably making you feel worse.”</p><p>“Yeah, umm, about that,” he replies with a bit of a hiccup, “I’m going to <i>be</i> sick.”</p><p>“Was waiting on that,” Hen replies, passing a bag to Buck to hand to Chimney, still not looking up from her wife.</p><p>It’s more than a little embarrassing to have Buck sit him up and rub his back, and comfort him when all the puking makes his broken ribs hurt even more intensely than before. Sure, they’re all like family, and Buck is one step away from being his <i>legal</i> family, but it’s still Buck. He would much rather have another Buckley doing this for him. To Buck’s credit, though, he must sense his uncomfortable-ness with the situation and acts like it’s all no big deal.</p><p>“Sorry,” he mumbles a few minutes later, wiping at his mouth.</p><p>“You can’t help it,” Buck shrugs.</p><p>“I’ll admit, that was a little gross for me because I’m the only non-EMT here,” Karen jokes, and God bless her, because even when she must be in just as much pain as he is if not more, she’s still trying to make him feel better, “but it’s fine. I volunteered for it when I agreed to drive you home, honestly.”</p><p>“You’re very charitable, Karen,” he smiles weakly, “thank you. I’m sorry you ended up getting more than you bargained for from it.”</p><p>“Not your fault,” she shakes her head, and yeah, maybe through using objective logic it isn’t his fault, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t <i>feel</i> like it is.</p><p>“It’s not,” Buck says lowly, picking up on the look on his face, “don’t blame yourself or I’ll have to tell my sister on you.”</p><p>“Mmm. Maddie.”</p><p>“Soon, we’re pulling into the parking lot now,” Hen says soothingly, “you’re not going to be able to pry her off you for a few days, Chim.”</p><p>“No, no, no snuggling. Don’t want to get her sick.”</p><p>“Yeah, good luck with that,” Buck laughs, “you’re not gonna be able to get her to stay away.” </p><p>And for the record, he isn’t.</p><p>Maddie just stares at first. Standing in the doorway of his hospital room, scanning him up and down and biting her lip, tears unsurprisingly falling from her cheeks.</p><p>“Maddie? It’s okay,” he says as reassuringly as he can, which given the circumstances isn’t actually very reassuring at all.</p><p>She takes a few steps toward him after that, though.</p><p>“I’m gonna do this so it doesn’t hurt,” she whispers, and before he can ask what she’s planning on doing, Maddie is gently and methodically climbing into the bed with him.</p><p>“Maddie, you’re not supposed to--”</p><p>“Don’t care,” she replies, and really, she was a nurse for YEARS. Of course she knows she’s not supposed to and is just choosing to blatantly ignore it.</p><p>“Don’t want to get you--”</p><p>“If I get sick, I get sick,” she sniffles, carefully wrapping an arm halfway around him and letting a hand rest lightly on his stomach.</p><p>“Maddie, you’re--”</p><p>“Pregnant, I know,” she says impatiently, “pregnant women catch common colds and stomach bugs all the time and both they and their babies are fine. You know this, now stop arguing with me. You need snuggles.”</p><p>“I’m not… okay,” he sighs, wisely cutting himself off before completing the phrase “I’m not arguing.”</p><p>“Hi, sweet pea,” she whispers, kissing his cheek, “hi. How are you feeling?”</p><p>“I… I’ve seen better days.”</p><p>“Stop. Stop it. No joking, no downplaying,” she says, starting to cry a bit harder.</p><p>“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to upset you more but clearly you want the whole truth, I’m sorry. I feel… I feel terrible, Maddie. In a lot of pain and my stomach is incredibly upset and I just feel so awful.”</p><p>“You poor, poor thing,” she whimpers, stroking his hair, “I can’t even imagine how awful you must be feeling. Is there anything I can do? Can I get you anything? Water, ginger ale, something to--”</p><p>“No, nothing in my stomach right now, please,” he says in a half-groan.</p><p>“Okay, okay, not right now,” she concedes, “but in a little bit you’re going to need to try and get something in your tummy, alright?”</p><p>He’s not particularly excited about it, but he nods regardless. Even if he tries to protest he knows Maddie will end up getting her way in the end.</p><p>“You poor thing,” she repeats, spending a couple of seconds kissing all over his face.</p><p>“At this point you’re just asking to get sick- you know that, right?”</p><p>“Yes, and I don’t care. My boyfriend is sick and got in a car crash. Anymore questions?”</p><p>“...Nope. Sorry, I-I don’t mean to… I’m not good at this.”</p><p>“I know, and it’s okay,” she sighs, “I don’t mean to be snappish at you. I know letting other people look after you is hard for you, and believe me, I get it, I’m stubborn about it, too. But just… looking at you in this hospital bed… I’m sorry. I wish I could have more patience for it right now but I just can’t.”</p><p>“It’s okay,” he nods, “I understand, Mads. Please don’t feel bad about it.”</p><p>“I can hear your stomach making noises,” she says with a sympathetic little laugh after a moment of comfortable silence, “so I’m guessing it’s not too happy right now?”</p><p>“Yeah, not at all.”</p><p>“So I’m gonna go ahead and make another guess; you’re not feeling up to any other visitors right now?”</p><p>“No,” he shakes his head emphatically, “just you.”</p><p>“We can hold them off for a while,” she assures him, “I’m sure they’ll all understand.”</p><p>“All? Who’s all? The 118?”</p><p>“Plus Josh, since he drove me here, and plus Albert.”</p><p>“...But not my dad, right?” he asks in a sudden panic.</p><p>“I think your dad might know,” she says calmly, rubbing circles on his stomach, “because I think he was with Albert earlier around the time he would’ve gotten the phone call about your accident. But your dad’s not here, and if he comes I won’t let him anywhere near you, alright? Please don’t worry about that right now. Please don’t worry about <i>anything</i> right now.”</p><p>“Would probably find a way to blame me for it,” he grumbles, unthinkingly adding, “to be fair, I kinda blame myself for it, anyway.”</p><p>“Chimney,” she says seriously, heartbroken but sadly not shocked, “sweet pea, this is in no way shape or form your fault.”</p><p>“But it kind of is,” he whispers, trying (and failing) to turn away from her, “if I hadn’t been sick, if no one at the station knew I was sick, if I had argued harder about them letting me drive myself home… I would have passed that road at a different time and probably never ran into that driver, and Karen wouldn’t have been there at all.”</p><p>“Chimney. You can’t help being sick, and you sure as hell can’t help another person having a seizure behind the wheel. They couldn’t even help it. It’s no one’s fault, and blaming yourself doesn’t fix anything; it just makes you feel even worse. And Karen volunteered to take you home because she’s your friend and she cares about you, okay? She doesn’t blame you, either.”</p><p>“Okay,” he nods, but he doesn’t believe it and Maddie knows it.</p><p>“Chim, honey,” she says a bit desperately, “it was just bad luck all around. You and Karen and the other driver are going to be okay, and that’s all that really matters.”</p><p>“Okay,” he repeats, again quite unenthusiastically. </p><p>“How can I convince you that this isn’t your fault? Because it’s not.”</p><p>“You probably can’t,” he replies, and well, she at least appreciates the honesty.</p><p>“I’m going to try anyway.”</p><p>“Just.. not right now, please? I don’t mean to be rude I just… I really don’t feel good. I don’t want to talk about it.”</p><p>“We don’t have to talk about it right this second,” she decides after thinking it over, “but we’re not done with this conversation. We’re just putting it on hold.”</p><p>“Mmm,” he whines, but it’s not an outright “no,” so Maddie decides to let it go and pick her battles for the moment.</p><p>“Just try and relax,” she sighs, “I’ve got you.”</p><p>“You were all I could think about,” he whispers, “when Karen and I were trapped in the car, when we were in the ambulance… everyone was great, including your brother, but I just wanted <i>you</i>.”</p><p>“I’m here now,” she nods sadly, kissing his forehead, “and I’m not leaving. There’s nowhere else in the world I need to be more right now than right here with you.”</p><p>“Good,” he murmurs, eyes drooping a bit, and Maddie hopes he’ll be able to nap for a little while despite the pain and queasiness.</p><p>“Everything’s going to be okay,” she hums, “you’re going to be fine. Won’t let anything else happen to you. You’re safe now, Howie.</p><p>“Tired.”</p><p>“Of course you are,” she coos, quietly and right in his ear, “your body is fighting off a virus, and if that wasn’t enough already, you’ve had the trauma of a car crash today, too. I’d say you’ve earned that sleepiness.”</p><p>“Dunno if I can sleep, though. Uncomfortable,” he whines, but the way he’s leaning into her and drawling in his speech has her hopeful.</p><p>“I know, I know you’re uncomfortable. Even if you can’t sleep, resting is still good, though. Just close your eyes, Chimney.”</p><p>It takes about a half an hour of her humming and saying the most soothing things she can think of, but eventually his breathing evens out and she knows he’s asleep.</p><p>“Thank goodness. Let’s hope your tummy lets you sleep for a few hours, hm?” Maddie murmurs, just staring at his sleeping face for a bit. He seems so peaceful compared to how obviously miserable he was when he was still awake.</p><p>“I love you,” she whispers, gently kissing his nose as not to wake him, “I love you, sweet pea.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Buck tracks down some ginger ale for Chimney when he wakes up, and because as much as he might annoy her sometimes, he’s still objectively a godsend, he brings her a sandwich.</p><p>“You must be hungry. Should probably eat while he’s still asleep,” he shrugs, as if he’s not being touchingly thoughtful.</p><p>“You’re sweet and now that I think about… I’m starving,” she says with a quiet little laugh.</p><p>“Well, you are growing my niece or nephew in there,” he teases, pointing to her still flat stomach.</p><p>Maddie had juuuuuuuuuust officially begun her second trimester and her and Chimney had told Buck about the pregnancy not even forty-eight hours ago, and yet, here he is, in full on protective and overjoyed uncle mode.</p><p>“Mmm. S’nice,” she murmurs through mouth full of turkey sandwich, “being hungry all the time is a nice change from the first two months. Felt so sick all the time; Howie had to bargain with me to get me to eat. Now, well… I guess the tables are a bit turned. Not for much longer, though, I hope. Hopefully it’s one of the quick bugs that’s pretty much gone the next day.”</p><p>“I hope so, too,” Buck nods, “he’s kind of in a rough enough situation to begin with.”</p><p>“I mean, what even are the odds?” Maddie groans, “Bobby doesn’t want him to drive himself home because he’s sick, so Hen calls Karen to ask her to take him home. She does because she’s a great person and then they end up getting in a crash anyway, and it’s… absolutely no one’s fault. Just purely random and awful.”</p><p>“Wait…” she adds after a moment, “why didn’t you all just call me to have me take him home? He’s my boyfriend.”</p><p>“Why do you think? He was being stubborn, apparently,” Buck replies with a tiny chuckle, “I wasn’t there for most if it but I’m told he said he wasn’t ‘sick enough’ to justify you leaving work early.”</p><p>“Oh my fucking God,” Maddie can’t help but grumble, looking down at Chimney’s head resting on her shoulder, “sweet pea, that’s just ridiculous and you know it.”</p><p>“<i>Does</i> he, though?” Buck laughs.</p><p>“...Probably not,” she says with a large exhale, gently running her fingers through her sleeping boyfriend’s hair, “we’ll work on it. We’re working on it. He’s stubborn but we’ll get him there, eventually.”</p><p>He makes a fussy sounding noise in his sleep, as if to protest, and both Buckley siblings have to muffle their giggling to try and keep from waking him.</p><p>“No fussing, no fussing,” Maddie hums once she has her laughter under control, “shh, Chim. It’s not time to wake up yet. Get all the rest that you can.”</p><p>He whines and shifts a bit, and Maddie grabs at where she knows he’s not hurt, or at least not hurt too badly, to try and hold him still.</p><p>“Hey, hey, easy. I know you’re uncomfortable, but you’re hurt, remember? You can’t move around too much.”</p><p>“Yeah, I don’t think he can--”</p><p>“Of course he can’t actually hear me,” Maddie says with an eye roll, but continues talking to him nonetheless, “you’re okay, you’re okay. You’re feeling icky and you’re hurt, but you’re okay.”</p><p>“Does he still feel warm?” Buck asks with a frown.</p><p>“He does,” Maddie nods sadly, heartbroken by the sad little whimpers and whines coming from her sleeping boyfriend, “I can’t tell if he’s having a bad dream from the fever or if he’s about to throw up all over me. Which one is it, sweet pea, hm?”</p><p>“It could be both. Don’t limit him,” Buck offers, earning another glare from his older sister.</p><p>“Stop being stupid and hand me that trashcan.”</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p><p>Chimney whines again and then coughs, and Maddie sighs deeply and sadly.</p><p>“Oh dear,” she murmurs, “Chimney? Time to wake up. I don’t want you to choke, honey.”</p><p>Buck takes this as his cue to quietly slip out of the room. Even though he <i>personally</i> doesn’t understand why it’s such a big deal because he and Chimney have practically been <i>brothers</i> since long before the ladder even met Maddie, he knows the older man would prefer some privacy on this one.</p><p>Buck’s next stop is Karen’s hospital room to check on her and her wife. And of course, knowing his friends the way he does, he isn’t surprised when the first words out of Hen’s mouths are asking about Chimney.</p><p>“How is he doing?”</p><p>“Well, he was sleeping for a while, which is good. But now he’s puking, which is not as good.”</p><p>“God, the poor guy. And I thought I was having a bad day,” Karen says with a sympathetic wince on his face.</p><p>“I’d say you’re both having pretty terrible days,” Hen amends, kissing the top of her wife’s head.</p><p>“Yeah, fair,” Karen nods, “I’m having a pretty sucky day, too. Actually, right after we crashed, I kind of thought Chimney was dead for a few seconds. Then he started talking and I realized he hadn’t even passed out and he was just in shock, but still, it was scary.”</p><p>“Yeah, uh, Karen? Don’t tell my sister you thought Chimney was dead.”</p><p>“Oh, no, I know better than to do that. I’m not stupid, Buck. I have a doctorate.”</p><p>“Right, right, I know that. Just trying to be extra sure we avoid my sister having a mental breakdown.”</p><p>“How is she?” Hen asks, trying to hide how broken she is inside at the mere thought of her best friend passing away.</p><p>“Well, she seems exhausted, which I can’t really blame her for. She seems… okay, though. Okay-ish. I mean, not okay, but you know what I mean.”</p><p>“Somehow, I do,” Hen deadpans.</p><p>“Does she need anything?”</p><p>“Okay, seriously Karen? You’re in a hospital bed; please stop worrying about other people for five seconds,” Buck retorts, “but no, I think she’s good. I made her eat something while Chimney was still sleeping and she’s holding it together, relatively. How are YOU, Karen?”</p><p>“Well, it hurts like a bitch,” she says bluntly, “but all things considered, I am <i>very</i> grateful to be alive.”</p><p>“That’s the spirit.”</p><p>“You both can be so stupid sometimes,” Hen says with a snort.</p><p>“You sound like my sister.”</p><p>“And your sister is a smart lady,” Hen finishes for him, before sighing wistfully, “it’s crazy how she and Chimney found each other, isn’t it?”</p><p>“It really is,” he agrees, smiling fondly, “she finally leaves her husband, runs all the way across the country, and then falls in love with my coworker. The year after that coworker survived a rebar through the brain. And then later got stabbed by the husband she left. But all in all, it’s a beautiful story.”</p><p>“And Chimney still manages to dodge death at every turn to this very day,” Hen adds with a laugh.</p><p>“Hopefully that part of the story ends soon,” Karen offers when a one armed shrug, “but really, you could write a book about those two.”</p><p>“Wait, Hen,” Buck says after a moment, “whenever he’s healed up enough to go back to work, are you gonna make us hang up a Chimney: 3, Death: 0 banner?”</p><p>“...Well, you just put that idea into my brain.”</p><p>“Eh, you would’ve thought it up on your own eventually.”</p><p>A knock on the doorframe breaks them out of their lighthearted banter.</p><p>“Guys?” Bobby calls, and there’s a certain seriousness to his demeanor that makes a pit form in their stomachs.</p><p>“What is it?” Hen demands as calmly as she can, “is it Chimney?”</p><p>“No, it’s… they thought the other driver was gonna make it. They didn’t. Had nothing to do with the crash, though. The sudden seizure was due to an undiagnosed brain tumor. They tried to take part of it out and he never made it out of surgery.”</p><p>“Oh… oh my god,” Karen says slowly, “that’s… that’s horrible.”</p><p>“He wouldn’t have had much time left, regardless,” Bobby says gently, “but yes, yes it is terrible.”</p><p>“You can’t…” Buck starts, pausing to take a deep breath, “guys, no one can tell Chimney.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lolz sorry this was the plan the entire time but it still made me sad to right it lmao ://</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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